The Satellite We Might Have Launched In The 1940s

“At the end of World War II, visionary military officers saw that the future of United States military superiority was scientific research. General Henry “Hap” Arnold and others in the Army Air Forces started a project under contract with the Douglas Aircraft Company. This effort resulted in the first real, and perhaps most influential “Think Tank,” Project RAND (Research ANd Development) made up of top-level scientists and engineers. Although a wide range of subjects were planned to be addressed, the very first research project was to study the possibility and usefulness of a man-made artificial Earth satellite. This first paper was Project RAND Special Memorandum SM-11827, Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship,1 which was accomplished in an astonishingly short time and issued May 1946. Governmentattic.org is pleased to be able to make available all twelve of these historic reports here.”

“At the end of World War II, visionary military officers saw that the future of United States military superiority was scientific research. General Henry “Hap” Arnold and others in the Army Air Forces started a project under contract with the Douglas Aircraft Company. This effort resulted in the first real, and perhaps most influential “Think Tank,” Project RAND (Research ANd Development) made up of top-level scientists and engineers. Although a wide range of subjects were planned to be addressed, the very first research project was to study the possibility and usefulness of a man-made artificial Earth satellite. This first paper was Project RAND Special Memorandum SM-11827, Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship,1 which was accomplished in an astonishingly short time and issued May 1946. Governmentattic.org is pleased to be able to make available all twelve of these historic reports here.”